Insufficient food supply to residents of Gaza despite Israel's relaxation of blockade measures
In the besieged Gaza Strip, aid distribution faces severe challenges due to access restrictions, ongoing hostilities, logistical blockades, and underfunding of humanitarian appeals. These issues have led to dangerous, inadequate aid delivery methods, causing displacement and exclusion of vulnerable populations.
Key challenges include:
- Israeli restrictions and blockade prevent unhindered, large-scale aid entry, despite Israel's legal obligations under International Humanitarian Law to facilitate aid.
- The Israeli government's imposed aid scheme, implemented via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and private security firms, has led to chaotic, unsafe distribution, displacing civilians and blocking vulnerable groups from aid access.
- Ongoing hostilities and risks to humanitarian workers reduce the safety and capacity of aid delivery routes, humanitarian facilities, and staff.
- Gaza faces a breakdown in law and order, complicating aid distribution logistics and security for populations and workers alike.
- Only about 21% of the $4 billion humanitarian appeal for Gaza has been funded as of late July 2025, leaving critical resource gaps.
Measures being taken or recommended to address these issues include:
- Calls by humanitarian organizations, like the International Rescue Committee, to open all viable land crossings into Gaza at scale with fast screening and no caveats to flood the region with aid immediately and ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian groups throughout Gaza.
- Calls for a ceasefire or pause in hostilities to enable safe humanitarian corridors, allowing secure aid delivery and civilian protection.
- Humanitarian agencies pre-positioning essential supplies outside Gaza to quickly scale up assistance once access improves.
- Coordination efforts by UN OCHA and humanitarian partners outlining measurable implementation indicators to overcome current obstacles if a ceasefire occurs.
Unfortunately, the way aid is being distributed has been met with criticism. Aid drops from the sky have been considered inhumane by Palestinians, and the alternative food distribution system run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has also been marred by violence. Crowds of Palestinians and gangs loot the aid trucks, often resulting in violence and deaths. Some in the crowd have threatened truck drivers with knives or small arms.
Israeli troops are reported to have opened fire on crowds around aid trucks, causing hundreds of injuries and deaths. Aid groups and Palestinians claim the changes in Gaza have only been incremental and are not enough to reverse a potential famine. Palestinians are seizing aid before it ends due to uncertainty as Israel hasn't given a timeline for the measures.
Truck drivers have reported instances of armed men shooting tires, stealing everything including diesel and batteries, and beating them. Momen Abu Etayya almost drowned while trying to retrieve aid that fell into the sea during an aid drop. The UN states that longstanding restrictions on the entry of aid have created an unpredictable environment, and Palestinians are not confident aid will reach them.
A displaced woman named Rida stated that the aid distribution approach is humiliating for Palestinians. Despite the increased number of aid trucks entering Gaza, almost none of it reaches UN warehouses for distribution. It took nearly 12 hours to bring in 52 trucks on a 10-kilometer (6 mile) route.
In a rare move, Israel has paused fighting in parts of Gaza and airdropped food. However, these efforts have not significantly improved the situation on the ground, with aid distribution remaining a survival of the fittest and a source of despair for many.
- The aid distribution process in Gaza, which includes drops from the sky and alternatives run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has faced criticism for being inhumane and marred by violence.
- Palestinians have expressed frustration that the changes in Gaza have not been enough to reverse a potential famine, claiming that they seize aid before it ends due to uncertainty as Israel hasn't given a timeline for the measures.
- In some instances, truck drivers have been subjected to threats with knives or small arms, while also experiencing tire shootings, theft of aid materials, and physical violence.
- A displaced woman named Rida voiced that the aid distribution approach is humiliating for Palestinians, as the increased number of aid trucks entering Gaza rarely reaches UN warehouses for distribution.
- Despite Israel's airdrops of food in a rare move, aid distribution in Gaza remains a struggle, with an unpredictable environment created by longstanding restrictions on the entry of aid, leading to a survival of the fittest and a source of despair for many.
